From the Creators of ParaNorman: The BoxTrolls Trailer

With Pixar feeling in a bit of a rut lately, and Disney just kinda being Disney, I’m happy to see other animation companies start to brand their own niche in the world. Aardman has had a tough time with anything other than Wallace and Gromit sticking, but Laika appears to be staking out a strong claim on the “darkly comic fantasy for kids” theme, following Coraline and ParaNorman with this adaptation of Alan Snow’s Here Be Monsters, starring the likes of Simon Pegg, Tracy Morgan, Elle Fanning, Nick Frost and Ben Kingsley.

Considering how long stop-motion takes, I’m also impressed at how timely they’ve managed to make the teaser. It could be coincidence, but the riff on same-sex marriage families – which I suspect to be more part of the teaser than the actual movie itself – ties into American headlines most aptly. It also nicely upends the remark prepared by a certain Senator’s aide from 2004 comparing unconventional families to box turtles.

Watch after the jump. Fans of previous Laika movies – and of Terry Gilliam-esque fantasy/humor hybrids – should dig it.